Child Rights

What is the Convention on the Rights of the
Child?

It has only been since 20 November 1989, when the United Nations
General Assembly adopted the Convention on the Rights of the Child
(CRC) that the world has benefited from one set of legal rights for
all children and young people. Today, 193 States parties have
ratified the Convention, making it the most widely ratified human
rights agreement in the world.
A convention such as this is an agreement between people or
countries where everyone agrees to follow the same law. The CRC
spells out the range of rights to which children everywhere are
entitled. It sets basic standards for children’s well-being at
different stages of their development and is the first universal,
legally binding code of child rights in history.
The Convention states that everyone under the age of 18 (the
definition of a child), regardless of gender, origin, religion or
possible disabilities, needs special care and protection because
children are often the most vulnerable.Although the Convention has 54 articles in all, it is guided by
four fundamental principles:

Non-discrimination (article 2): You should neither benefit
nor suffer because of your race, colour, gender, language,
religion, or national, social or ethnic origin, or because of any
political or other opinion; because of your caste, property or
birth status; or because you are disabled.

The best interests of the child (article 3): Laws and actions
affecting children should put your best interests first and
benefit you in the best possible way.

Survival, development and protection (article 6): The
authorities in your country must protect you and help ensure your
full development – physical, spiritual, moral and social.

Participation (article 12): You have a right to have your say
in decisions that affect you, and to have you opinions taken into
account.

Plan International spoke to young people we work with in four
countries to explore how they are communicating with each other
and what they would like to do if they were able to connect with
young people in other countries. The video above summarises what
they said.
Click here to le...

"Every day and night, I sit in my family's little home in
Monrovia and watch people from my community cry as their family
members are taken away by the National Ebola Taskforce to be
cremated.
They cry that they won't see their family any more, they won't
even be able to talk about them...

The first amendment of the Constitution of the United States of
America states the right to have freedom of speech and freedom of
the press. These two principles are followed strictly in America
and other countries with democracy or a democratic republic as a
government. Not all countries ha...

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Voices of Youth (VOY) was founded in 1995 as UNICEF’s online place for young people to learn more about issues affecting their world. VOY was recently redesigned for a more modern youth audience and is now the go-to place where you can know more, learn more and do more about our world! You can share your thoughts and opinions with thousands of people from all over the world. You can also discuss social issues such as Education, Environment or Violence and Conflict and inform yourself about HIV/AIDS, Health or Human Rights.